Fans of local produce and the farmers markets throughout Hampton Roads have a great resource in the pages of a new cookbook from Southern Living magazine. The "Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook" includes dozens of recipes that take advantage of the fresh produce found at outdoor markets and farm stands. The book also profiles the farmers market experience and includes tips for how to shop for the best produce and how best to preserve what you bring home. In the rear of the cookbook are listings of dozens of farmers markets and festivals held throughout the South, including many Virginia locales.

A duct tape repair was no help. Pages just kept falling out. The wear has been well-earned, and Sophia Ramirez will press on cooking her way through all 185 recipes in Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything: The Basics. " Ramirez, 13, has been lighting up the kitchen in her Newport News home with a summer project that has kept her family well fed and her very busy. "There are a lot of people my age who are going out to dinner every night instead of making stuff," she said.

Self-publishing, a growing segment of the publishing industry at large, has always played a significant role in cookbook publication. To smooth the process, Favorite Recipes Press (FRP), which publishes most of the nation's Junior League cookbooks, including the Junior League of Hampton Roads' "My Mama Made That," is offering a seminar in Nashville on the nuts and bolts of a self-published cookbook. The seminar divides its audience into those starting out with a cookbook and those who want to learn about its marketing.

By David Nicholson, dbnicholson@dailypress.com | 757-247-4794 | July 21, 2013

Trying to hunt down all the online sites that talk about food and wine in Hampton Roads is a little like searching for the perfect crab cake recipe. The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, along with food blogs and websites, have enabled dedicated foodies to wax poetic about their favorite dishes and restaurants. Chefs and restaurateurs use the same platforms to keep their loyal diners up on menu changes and specials such as an upcoming wine dinner or when the soft shell crabs have arrived.

Every recipe in the new cookbook "Simple Secrets to Better Everyday Cooking" comes with its own secret, such as how to choose the best potato for mashing, how to use a grill wok, and how to caramelize sugar for desserts. The secrets make this book a standout. It's a primer in how to make the most of your cooking skills -- and at the same time make everyday meals special. You'll find a secret in the form of a technique, tip or guide on every page. And, since each one accompanies a recipe, you can try it out. These suggestions range from how to cut up fresh pineapple, toast spice seeds, make pizza on the grill, and work with fresh ginger.

The cookbook "Favorites from The Lunch Bell, Family and Friends" cookbook will be available at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 14. Betty Swain, co-owner of The Lunch Bell for almost three decades with her husband, Bill, has gathered customers' favorite recipes from the City Center establishment, padded them with contributions from family and friends, and produced a trove of local culinary lore. Among the 350 recipes are 150 from the restaurant, including Swain's trademark pies and the secrets of her chicken salad.

The community cookbook, "My Mama Made That ... Virginia Favorites" (2009), published by the Junior League of Hampton Roads in Newport News, has taken first place in the 20th Annual Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards, a program that will be retired after this year. Since their inception, the national awards have honored 275 books from nonprofits and handed out $100,000 to the causes they support. "Cookbooks are the kitchen tables of history, heritage and traditions," says Femia Leeuwenburg, cookbook chair for the Morehead City sesquicentennial celebration, which won the national honor in 2008 with "A Little Taste of Heaven."

The Junior League of Hampton Roads will be recognized nationally on the Nashville Network cable system when the television program "Cookin' U.S.A." features the league's "Children's Party Book" at noon and 3 p.m. on July 29. The league's cookbook "Virginia Hospitality" was one of four books around the country selected for inclusion in the Walter S. Milhenny Hall of Fame for community cookbooks. The Milhenny Company manufactures Tabasco brand products. With sales of 205,000 copies the cookbook has generated $1 million.

Seattle is one of my favorite cities. So when I learned there was a cookbook full of tasty dishes from that area of the country, I just had to take a look. I was not disappointed. "The Pacific Northwest" cookbook by Jean Galton offers recipes, cooking facts and information about the area. There's also a glossary, an index and a slew of colorful photos showing culinary works of art. The 144-page cookbook is part of the six-volume New American Cooking series that celebrates the foods, flavors and techniques that define American cooking today.

With the world's attention drawn to Eastern Europe for several years now, it's no surprise that its cooking would be scrutinized as well. Two international collections - one from local churches - are highlighted in this month's cookbook roundup. Author Darra Goldstein offers on an intriguing armchair tour of the Republic of Georgia, while "Ethnic Delights" features recipes for kasha (buckwheat), pirohi (dumplings), holupki (stuffed cabbage leaves) and other international favorites.

By David Nicholson, dbnicholson@dailypress.com | 757-247-4794 | May 12, 2013

For three years, chef Patrick Evans-Hylton criss-crossed the state to find out what Virginians once ate and what is on their plates today. His research and witticisms are collected in his latest cookbook, "Dishing Up Virginia. " Subtitled "145 Recipes That Celebrate Colonial Traditions and Contemporary Flavors," the book is a lively dose of history, personalities and the state's diverse foodways. "One of the things I love most is being a food historian," says Evans-Hylton, who works locally as food and wine editor for Hampton Roads Magazine.

Victory in Surry County is sweet – or grilled, your preference. Opponents of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative's proposed coal-fueled power plant will celebrate the company's recent decision to suspend the project with a community cookout at 3 p.m. Sept. 9 at Chippokes State Park. It will be held in the picnic shelters nearest the Visitor Center. The public is invited and everyone is asked to bring a side dish or dessert to share, said organizer Betsy Shepard. Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and drinks will be provided The event is intended as a thank you to residents and environmentalists who fought the project, she said.

The Zac Brown Band brings its genre-blurring brand of country-rock to Virginia Beach on Sunday Oct. 16. The group's approachable image and party-hearty vibe has helped it win over thousands of fans as well as bigtime corporate sponsors — Jack Daniel's whiskey among them. Brown, a Georgia native, is a savvy entrepreneur who sells his own signature brand of sauces and rubs as well as a cookbook. But with hits including "Chicken Fried" and "As She's Walking Away" under his belt, music is bound to remain Brown's main occupation.

The cookbook "Favorites from The Lunch Bell, Family and Friends" cookbook will be available at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 14. Betty Swain, co-owner of The Lunch Bell for almost three decades with her husband, Bill, has gathered customers' favorite recipes from the City Center establishment, padded them with contributions from family and friends, and produced a trove of local culinary lore. Among the 350 recipes are 150 from the restaurant, including Swain's trademark pies and the secrets of her chicken salad.

Fans of local produce and the farmers markets throughout Hampton Roads have a great resource in the pages of a new cookbook from Southern Living magazine. The "Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook" includes dozens of recipes that take advantage of the fresh produce found at outdoor markets and farm stands. The book also profiles the farmers market experience and includes tips for how to shop for the best produce and how best to preserve what you bring home. In the rear of the cookbook are listings of dozens of farmers markets and festivals held throughout the South, including many Virginia locales.

The community cookbook, "My Mama Made That ... Virginia Favorites" (2009), published by the Junior League of Hampton Roads in Newport News, has taken first place in the 20th Annual Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards, a program that will be retired after this year. Since their inception, the national awards have honored 275 books from nonprofits and handed out $100,000 to the causes they support. "Cookbooks are the kitchen tables of history, heritage and traditions," says Femia Leeuwenburg, cookbook chair for the Morehead City sesquicentennial celebration, which won the national honor in 2008 with "A Little Taste of Heaven."

The newly released Newport News Centennial Celebration Cookbook "Captain's Tour" celebrates the city's first 100 years through the common denominator of food. The silver-black, spiral-bound book is almost 500 pages long and combines history, local lore, pen-and-ink drawings, old advertisements and personal reminiscences along with recipes printed in their contributors' original handwriting. "It's the personal side of the city," says Anita Garner, editor and publisher of the book, whose committee started work in January.

At 84, world traveler, author, radio personality and raconteur Sandy Lesberg has found a way to bring disparate strands of his life together in a corner cafe in Williamsburg. The author of a 1971 cookbook, "The Art of African Cooking," a collection of 300 recipes gathered from the wives of African ambassadors to the United Nations, Lesberg has revived his interest in Africa and its culinary heritage by opening The Africa Cafe. There, with business partner Felix Vlad, he also produces a complementary weekly 30-minute TV cooking show on Africa and African cooking.

Self-publishing, a growing segment of the publishing industry at large, has always played a significant role in cookbook publication. To smooth the process, Favorite Recipes Press (FRP), which publishes most of the nation's Junior League cookbooks, including the Junior League of Hampton Roads' "My Mama Made That," is offering a seminar in Nashville on the nuts and bolts of a self-published cookbook. The seminar divides its audience into those starting out with a cookbook and those who want to learn about its marketing.